In some circuit assemblies a circuit board with its associated components is housed within a metal case and the board has a ground plane electrically connected to the case. Previously grounding was done by a screw which is also used to secure the circuit board to the case. The underside of the screw head intimately contacts a plated through hole in the circuit board which was connected to the ground plane. The threads of the fastener mated with the case to complete the grounding circuit. Commonly circuit assemblies achieve circuit communication with external devices through a connector or header on the circuit board which has a body fastened to the circuit board, the body holding an array of pins which are soldered at one end to circuits on the board and are arranged at the other end for coupling to a mating female connector.
It is considered to be desirable to eliminate fasteners in such assemblies so that another approach to grounding the circuit board is needed. If a ground clip were mounted on the board with leads extending through holes in the board like other sticklead components (conventional components with leads) at least three leads would be required for stable mounting, and even then it would be difficult to assure the clip remained in a operative position during the soldering operation. The ground clip must be held in position accurately so that it is in the correct position when the board is installed in the housing to achieve proper grounding. Without the proper support, sticklead components come through a wave soldering process tilted to one side or another with a random and undefined magnitude of misalignment. Thus a secure mount for a ground clip is needed to maintain its position throughout the wave soldering as well as to provide adequate structural stiffness after it is assembled in a housing.